Old students from all over world came here to celebrate the school turning 80 on Saturday and Sunday. Rishi Valley School is the first school established by world renowned philosopher Jiddu Kishnamurti near his home town Madanapalli.
Over 250 students who studied in the school in a span of five decades attended the alumni meeting held to celebrate the school completing eight decades of existence.
Rishi Valley Education Centre director Radhika Herzberger welcoming the old students said the type of education being imparted by the school had become more relevant in a world that was being increasingly affected by violence and climate change.
She said that through the efforts of the School the Andhra Pradesh Government had granted Special Development Authority status to Rishi Valley with the District Collector as the Chairman. The State Government approved a 'master plan and zoning regulations' for the RVSDA recently.
The school was conducting some community service through its Rural Education Centre and Rural Health Centre. In a presentation on the challenges being faced by the school it director (education) A. Krishnaswamy explained the steps being taken to conserve water as the region was in the midst of a ten-year drought cycle.
The limited amount of ground water available was being over exploited by farmers who were using it to grow water-intensive crops like paddy and tomato because of the higher returns. He said Rishi Valley would use its "brand value" to promote the cultivation of millets. The idea of promoting millets came from the community, he added.
Power point presentations and field visits were arranged for the alumni to showcase the different developmental programmes being organised by the school in the villages surrounding it. Various activities that are part of the school routine like bird watching, chanting and folk dancing were also conducted for the old students.
